New Moon
by bottled insanity
Summary: RaiKim AU She gazes on the moon, haunted by strange dreams. He surfs out into the sunrise, intrigued by their connection. What could happen during a month in Rio? ON TEMPORARY HIATUS
1. Prologue

**A/N** So I've decided to compromise with a fluffy-ish chapter story. This is an almost disappointingly short chapter, but it's really the prologue so don't go thinking that this will be how all of the chapters are. Also don't think you can get away with skipping this chapter; it's very important. Trust me.

**Disclaimer:** Xiaolin Showdown and the characters are all mine. Wait, no, scratch that. They're not.

**New Moon  
Prologue**

_Rio...wow._

Sunset over the water. It was the most beautiful thing she could ever imagine. The sun shimmered lightly over the ocean, creating sparks of light on the crest of every ripple and every wave. Hues of pink and orange hovered above the water, dancing along the horizon. The sight was unforgettable.

She thought about pulling out her camera, but decided against it. A camera could never capture this beauty in the way it deserved. Besides, she used enough technology on a daily basis; she just wanted to bask in the glow of the fading sunlight.

Kimiko was alone on the beach; most of the travellers came to the beach only to tan. Unlike the rest of those tourists, Kimiko had always preferred the night. Don't misunderstand her; she loved the warmth of the sun and the brightness of its flames, but the night was just so entrancingly beautiful. It had that sort of grace about it which the day just never seemed to be able to match; the way the sun rose and set, the way the moon lingered in the air, the way the stars clung to the sky. Yes, the night was just so more intriguing, more mysterious.

The sun did not take long to disappear completely below the horizon, leaving a trace of violet in the clouds. Kimiko smiled, her clear blue eyes reflecting the scene around her. The stars were all out tonight; she had spent so much time stargazing as a little girl that she now knew all of the constellations by heart. For some reason, the stars seemed to call to her, saying to watch as they flew across the sky. They left lingering relflections in the ocean, causing the waves to twinkle with light from the stars fixed in the heavens.

Serenity. That's what she was feeling; she finally had a word to put to the emotion now. This is how she always felt while gazing at the night sky, but somehow, being in Rio, watching the sun fall beneath the ocean waves...it was entrancing, hypnotic even.

She fell asleep beneath the starry skies, the water lapping as her feet in a soothing, rhythmic motion. The only thing missing was the moon.

- - - - - - -

Oh, yeah. The ocean was definitely calling to him.

He rose with the sun. It was his way. If he could, he;d never sleep. He'd be out there riding the waves day in, day out. Unfortunately, he was human and humans, for the most part, needed to sleep. Besides, it's not like he would have seen what he was doing in the dark, anyway. So it made sense.

Nothing could keep him away from the water, not if he could help it. He was always so restless and it gave him a way to chill. It always had, It was his stimulant and his depressant, his addiction and his anti-drug.

Rai was just grabbbing his board, trying to get to the beach before any of the, ugh, _tourists_ showed up. Those people made going surfing a much less enjoyable experience than it should have been, what with them all tanning and wading and shit. So he always headed out early before any of them showed up to ruin the trip. Always worked.

God, just standing in the early rays of the sunlight got his blood running. He could actually feel his adrenaline pumping through his veins. Yeah, gross, but true. The sun just always had this frantic energizing power to it, like a battery recharger. Yeah. A battery recharger.

He felt like running. He didn't really know why, but he wasn't one to just ignore these urges, so he ran. All the way to the beach. It's not like it was far, it was only a few minutes away. Aah, that sky was just breaking, the gold and pinks pouring from it like fruit juice. Fruit juice? Wait, no, that's not what he meant. More like paints spilling from a canvas. Yeah, that's more like it.

Alive. That's how he felt whenever he set foot on this beach. Heh, he has a word for it now. This rush of energy, of feelings, filled his body and made him sprint the last few yards to the water's edge.

He groaned as the water touched his feet and he dove in headfirst, energy seeping throughout him as he swam further out into the endless blue. The day had begun.


	2. Chapter One

**A/N** Thank you to my five reviewers, Japanese-Fanatic, RaikimLover, Cursed Destiny, XiaolinFireGirl, and xXxBeany413xEnglishGirlxXx. This chapter is longer than my previous one, as promised. Hopefully that will make up for the fact that it came out later than I had hoped.

If you have any criticisms (of the constructive variety) or suggestions, I will apreaciate them all and seriously take them all into consideration as the story goes. As I see it, the story will be twenty eight chapters long (holy crap!), one for each stage of the moon until we reach the new moon again. There will be a plot (yay!) so stay tuned!

**Disclaimer**: Xiaolin Showdown and its characters are not mine, but the story and the plot are.

**New Moon  
Chapter One**

The sun hovered in the air, lightly above the horizon. It looked like it was almost balancing on the thin line of water, steady but still unstable. In Rai's eyes it was the most welcoming sight on earth. Perfet weather, perfect waves. All in all, it was a promising day.

Already waist-deep in the cool water, Rai paddled out with his longboard into the sunrise. He saw the cresting waves, crashing down by the shore with a thunderous clap. Grinning, he chose the best of the waves, one that hadn't quite started to curl, and paddled into it. He could feel the spray of the surf on his tanned face as he rose on his board, glancing back at the wave to make sure he had optimal positioning on the large wave. Looking toward the beach, he saw the sun's golden rays gently touching the tops of the palm trees on the sand's edge. Watching his step carefully, he walked out on his board, headed towards the nose. He hadn't managed to perfect hanging ten, but he'd be damned if he didn't have it by the end of the summer!

Unfortunately for him, today was not that day. He came out on his board about half-way ad attempted to lunge forward to place one foot at the nose. Yeah, he couldn't even do a cheater five. Instead, he lost his balance, falling off on one side, heading toward the shore at breakneck pace. _Oh, shit!_ he thought as his head ducked under the water in attempt to ease his inevitable crash.

He'd come crashing on shore on more than one occasion, of course. Nothing to be ashamed of; every surfer has his off days. Still, it was not a pleasant experience. Usually it meant a mouthfull of sand, as well as a massive migrane from hitting the beach.

This time, however, his head didn't come down hard on the beach. No sand in his mouth. Without opening his eyes, Rai knew that he had to have come to shore by now. After all, he was no longer in the water. But where was the pain? Slowly opening his eyes, he saw why he wasn't hurting. Though that gave him no guarantee that he wouldn't be in pain sometime in the _very_ near future.

He had crashed into a girl about his age who'd apparently been sleeping on the beach. And his head was now resting on her chest.

- - - - - - -

_She felt younger. Only by a few years, but still enough that she was about three inches shorter than usual. And, for some reason, she was very uncomfortable. Looking down at herself, she groaned as she realized why. She was in a kimono. A kimono! What in hell would possess her to _ever _wear one of those death traps, even in her dreams? Yes, she could tell she was dreaming. Mostly because she was stuffed into a freaking corset dress._

_Looking at her surroundings, she could see that she was in front of the Emperor's palace. Odd. She hadn't been there since she was a little girl, around six or seven. What seemed the strangest to her, even more than the setting and the kimono, was the people she was standing with._

_Three boys. One was short with an impossibly round head. He was wearing a red robe lined with black. Very shiny. Very sleek. Very unfashionable. One of the reasons she was so surprised to see herself in a kimono was that she was very fashion-conscious and couldn't bear to wear anything out of date, especially when it was five hundred years past its expiration date._

_The one next to him was tall, wearing a cowboy hat atop his blonde hair. He wore a teal robe over top of a lighter green robe. What the hell was it with everyone dressing like it was the year 500? A costume party or something?_

_The third guy was wearing armor, looking very much like a warrior of old. His brown hair hung messily in his face and his sharp jade eyes seemed to be laughing. That, unfortunately, was coupled with the fact that he was actually laughing. Kimiko had a sinking feeling that it was directed at her and her hideous getup. "Shut it!"_

_"I think Kimiko's clothing is mooost appropriate. She at last resembles a girl!" Okay, that kid with the round head was pushing it. She was already in pain due to her kimono, she was so not in the mood._

_"Where are your formal duds, Omi?" asked the kid with the blonde hair in a light western accent. Omi, eh? She'd have to remember that name after she killed the kid._

_"These _are _my formal robes, Clay!" Omi's voice was getting to be annoying, so she just tuned him out. Besides, he'd probably just say something sexist and insulting and Kimiko really did not feel like being charged with murder. Though it wouldn't be counted as premeditated..._

_"Let's find these tiger claws and bail," she interrupted. Tiger claws? What was she talking about? Shouldn't she be able to at least know what she's saying in her dream, even if nothing else makes sense? Sighing internally, she began walking up the steps. Great. She hadn't even noticed that she was wearing geta shoes. Of course, that made her ascent more than a little bit challenging._

_"Are you planning on walking three steps behind us?" the tan guy asked in a mocking tone. Nice voice, except the guy was obviously a jerk._

_"No, I'm planning on leaving you in my dust!" she said, acid dripping from her tone. If nothing else, his words made her more determined to scale that mountain of steps._

_Unfortunately, fate had other plans for her. She had never been good with geta, anyway, so when she started to wobble a bit, she heard t he guy call out to her, "Be careful, or you'll..." At that moment, of course, the wobbling became too much for her and she just toppled over. "...fall." She could hear him snickering behind her as he climbed the stairs. "Need a hand?" he asked in that same inexcusably mocking tone. God, he was annoying!_

_"What I need," she started, the intensity of her anger building like a flame, "is for you to _get out of my way_!"_

At that moment, Kimiko was torn from her embarrassing dream from something cold and warm at the same time..._Odd_. She slowly opened her eyes, noticing that it was starting to get sunny out. Blinking away the harshness of the light, she squinted to see what had woken her up.

On her chest was a boy with lightly tanned skin and brown hair that hung messily in his face, his sharp jade eyes wide in shock. Her blue eyes soon followed suit as she realized that she recognized his face. "YOU!"

The boy's face was still shocked, but showed a hint of confusion. "Oh my god, I am so sorry," he said, slowly rising from his previous position. God, he even sounded the same! A little older, perhaps, but the same.

She was confused to say the least. The one thing she knew was that she didn't like him. Not after being taunted and teased by him. Granted, that was only in her dreams, but her subconscious had to be telling her something about this guy, right? "Get the hell away from me!" she shrieked.

- - - - - - -

Okay, so Rai could understand that she was freaked out. After all, she'd woken up to find a random guy's face on top of her breasts. But she'd acted as though she knew him already, or at least recognized him. In the back of his mind, he could tell that she was vaguely familiar, but only vaguely. "Do I know you?" he asked, furrowing his brow in concentration.

The girl just glared at him, her blue eyes ablaze with anger. Jeez, it was just an accident...She then picked herself up off the beach quite calmly, considering her ire from before, and started to walk away. Rai frowned. What the hell was this girl's deal? "Hey, I asked you a question!" he called after her, walking quickly to catch up with her.

Rai was not used to being snubbed by random girls. He was used to them fawning over him and his surfing prowess. Not that he ever dated or even liked any of those girls; he just politely turned them all down before heading back out to catch the waves. They were all distractions, trying to keep him away from his beloved pasttime with their idle chatter and unsubtle flirtatiousness. He appreciated it, he just didn't have the time or the patience for it.

This girl, however, was something new. Granted, they hadn't had the best of introductions, but that wasn't a reason for her to just hate him out of the blue."Hey, I'm talking to you!" He waved his hand in front of her face. Obviously not the best move as she calmly grabbed his wrist and flipped him over her shoulder.

_Holy shit._

- - - - - - -

_How the hell did I just do that?_

"Oh my god, I am so sorry." She was faintly aware that she was echoing his words from before, but it didn't quite register as she helped this guy she may or may not hate off of the ground. _Where did that come from?_ The guy was now rubbing his head in pain, his eyes tightly shut to try and ward away the inevitable headache. "Did that hurt?" _Dumb question_.

"Oh, no, I'm just dandy right where I am OF COURSE THAT HURT!"

"Don't mock me," Kimiko hissed with narrowed eyes. Now she remebered why this boy annoyed her so much. He was actually just the same as he had seemed in her dream. Great.

"Oh?" he said, raising an eyebrow as a smirk appeared on his face. "Are you afraid I'll say something that'll hurt your widdle feewings and make you cwy?" Ugh, he was speaking to her like she was a baby _and_ making her seem like a fragile little..."Aw, did I make you sad?" He still had that irritating grin plastered on his face, the kind of grin that made Kimiko want to slap it off his face.

So she did.

"_Fuck!_" he cried as he reeled back, clutching his face in pain. "What the hell was that for?"

"What do you think?" Kimiko asked, a small grin appearing on her face as she appeared to be thinking. "I tell you not to mock me, you do it anyway, you face the consequences." By now, they were already at the shore's end, right up by the road. She sat herself gently on a bench facing the ocean and facing away from that annoying son of a bitch.

"You're lucky I don't hit girls," he mumbled to himself as he sat next to her, albeit as far away from her on the bench as he could get without falling off.

Kimiko snorted. "Oh, yeah. Because if you did, you'd totally be able to whup my ass," she chuckled sarcastically. She looked over at him, seeing a dark look on his face.

"You know what? I don't have time for this." And with that, he was off towards the surf, leaving a slightly puzzled Kimiko staring after him.

- - - - - - -

_Why the hell did I just do that? Girls are distractions, even when they aren't fawning over me_, Raimundo thought grimly as he dove back into the ocean. _Stupid girl, acted like she hated me before she even saw me_. God, that was annoying. Why the hell did he even bother trying to talk to her? Didn't even give him a straight answer. Stupid distraction.

For the rest of the day, he surfed, It almost always left him with a clear mind, like some sort of transcendental experience. Well, no, more like meditation. Yeah, it was just like meditation. It helped him to concentrate on other problems later, not that he usually had any.

But today, for some reason, he was out of synch with the waves. He wasn't able to catch any in their earliest stages, always getting to them just in time for the waves to come crashing down on his head. Instead of clearing his mind, it just got him angrier, more frustrated. And it was all because of that girl, that stupid girl he didn't even know but couldn't get out of his head. That...distraction.

As the sun began to set, he tried to catch one more wave before the day was over. No luck. It just swept over him, like all of the others that day. "What is WRONG with me today?" he cried out to the sky.

- - - - - - -

Kimiko heard his cry from the beach. She had gone to explore the city a bit, but couldn't resist coming back to the shore for her nightly meditation. Because that's what it was; meditation. Being encased in the starry skies always helped to clear her mind, to calm her down. She had lost control of herself earlier that day, performing feats of strength she never knew herself to be capable of. All because of him. That guy. Ugh, every time she thought of him, it felt like a flame had just been ingnited in her, she felt so mad. It was getting to the point where she couldn't concentrate on enjoying herself because she couldn't get him, and her anger towards him, out of her mind.

She had just been decently relaxed, staring at the small sliver of the moon that had just appeared as the sun's rays disappeared beneath the horizon. She had been calm. But hearing his cry like that had just gotten her worked up again. _How is he doing this to me? I'm not one to hold grudges_. _Usually_.

Meditation was not going to work for her tonight, she sensed. She saw him paddle violently to shore only to stomp away towards the road. She sighed. "Maybe I should go; I don't want a repeat of this morning," she murmured to herself. Daintily, but steadily, she picked herself up and walked toward her hotel room as the slight moon disappeared behind a cloud.


	3. Chapter Two

**_A_/N** I'd like to start by saying that this is the longest chapter I've ever written. Ever. For anything. I like it, too. It's a bit different from the last and is hopefully not overly clicheed in anything. If I'm mistaken and it is, I know I can always count on you readers/reviwers to point out my shortcomings. 

Speaking of reviewers (yay transitions!), I'd like to thank my reviewers from NM thus far, namely Japanese-Fanatic, Raikimlover, Cursed Destiny, XiaolinFireGirl, -x-Beany413-x-, obsessed-fic-fan, deniserichardson, iRebel, Leca B., Raigirl, SnowCharms, and Mrs. Radcliffe 13. You all rock.

I'd also like to apologise for my long absence. I was unable to use my computer for a long time and, unfortunately, it has affected all of you. For that, I am sorry.

Oh, and I used for the name definitions. And the flashbacks are both from episode 3 - Tangled Web.

**Disclaimer**: If Xiaolin Showdown was actually mine, would I be writing fanfics about it or would I be making them into episodes? Needless to say, I own naught but the plot.

**New Moon  
Chapter Two**

_Maniacal laughter, like someone was trying to be evil or something. Oh, and she was dangling off a narrow bridge over lava._

_"That's a good look for you!" she heard over the roar of the earthquakes. He sounded_ _nasally, like he was just going through puberty. Looking down at herself, she realized that this must have been the continuation of her previous dream. She wore the same kimono and same hair style, although she'd managed to get rid of those horrible geta shoes. Hopefully straight into the lava._

_"Stupid showdown," she muttered to herself. Again, she didn't have much control over what she was saying, so the words themselves had little meaning. She was just focusing on not being burnt to a crisp._

_She heard the prepubescent idiot call out something to her, but she was too busy getting herself back on her feet that his wrods were rendered meaningless. This was a guy that no one paid attention to, of this she was sure. She felt triumphant for a mere moment before another earthquake sent her up in the air, landing on her butt. "It helps if you don't fall on your butt," the evil wannabee called to her._

_Kimiko gasped as she looked at her tormenter. He wore all black over his pale skin, making his shocking red hair stand out. His similarity to Snow White, however, went unnoticed as she saw that he had a tail. A monkey tail. And fangs. _What the hell IS this?_, she thought to herself as Monkey Boy ran off in a different direction._

_She took the comb out of her hair. It looked ancient and as out of date as her kimono costume, but she knew it was important. The words seemed to bubble out of her mouth as she shouted, "Tangle Web Comb!"_

_The comb's teeth lashed out like arms toward Monkey Boy at an alarming rate. She stared at the cmb in her hand, amazed at its power, even more amazed that she could wield it. Oh, wait, no, apparently she couldn't. Instead, it backfired as the teeth raced back toward her, binding her like it was rope. Monkey Boy simply laughed at her as she struggled with her bindings._

_She almost gave up. She wasn't proud of that, but she almost gave up. But then an old man appeared in the confines of her mind, a forgotten memory restored. His voice was sothing, like the rushing water of a brook. "You must drown out all distractions." She could feel her eyes slipping closed. "Quiet the storm of your mind. Only then will you achieve absolute focus."_

_Kimiko simply lie there, meditating as she pictured the moon come out from behind a group of rainclouds. In a matter of seconds, her bindings unwrapped themselves from her delicate form, reaching out instead toward Monkey Boy. She grabbed his ridiculous staff from his hands and watched in unmasked awe as his tail and teeth retracted. "It worked," she breathed to herself in relief._

_"Big deal, you got the monkey staff," Monkey Boy sneered, not noticing the earthquakes beginning once more. "Too bad I'm only one...small...step..." Being a rather oafish boy, his hand knocked a glowing object, the one that they had been battling over, off its pedastal and toward the lava. He jumped off the small bridge, trying to obtain the object quickly. Kimiko, seeing this, used her comb to swing out in front of him and grab the object from right in front of his face!_

_The rush she got from the almost free-fall...it was enough to turn her cheeks pink and make her eyes glisten. She knew she was giggling. She landed gracefully back on the bridge as Monkey Boy fell, presumably to his death._

_"Told ya she would." A familiar voice sent her head spinning off to the side. Oh. It was that arrogant guy who teased her, the one she met on the beach. Along with the cowboy and the bald kid. She had been wondering where they had gone off to. Although because of the way they had treated her before, she wasn't exactly ecstatic to see them again. Especially the guy who had shamelessly made fun of her. Let _him _try to walk in geta anytime soon, see how he likes it._

_She saw the cowboy reach out to shake hands with the guy from the beach. "Looks like you win the bet, pardner." _Bet? The one he made against me?_ Kimiko thought to herself, a small frown crossing her features._

_"I never doubted her for a second."_

Kimiko's eyes snapped open, her breathing more shallow than usual. Blindly, she groped for the alarm clock. 3:45 AM. _Great_.

She was still somewhat in shock from her newest dream. What did that mean? Who were those people? What was with the comb and the staff, not to mention the mysterious object that she and Monkey Boy fought over. And, most importantly, what did that guy mean? He never doubted her for a second?

But he had so plainly insulted her in her previous dream; why would he care enough to make a bet _for_ her instead of _against _her? _Probably thought I would get him a better prize if I went against the odds_, she thought grimly. But then why would he care enough to not doubt her, even when she doubted herself?

Did that make him a good person?

Was she too hasty in judging him?

Who was he?

With all of that still fresh in her mind, Kimiko blindly reached for the covers of the motel bed as she prepared to go back to sleep.

- - - - - - -

The sun glistened, hovering on the line of the horizon. As usual, Rai was up and ready to greet the day. He'd brought his longboard for some more practice with hanging ten. Hell, he still needed to learn that cheater five. The day was looking to be slightly gloomier than the day before, the top of the sun already cover with what looked to be storm clouds. But whatever, Rai was used to practicing in all types of weather, rain or shine, so he wasn't fazed.

He pushed his board a little ways out before pouncing into the ocean. After all of these years, he still reveled in the feel of salt water against his skin. He resurfaced, paddling to his board, and observed the sight before him.

The waves were a bit choppier, likely due to the storm from the day before, and they came crashing down with twice the speed and twice the force. Yeah, he was already missing the perfection from the day before.

Again, Rai searched for a suitable wave before paddling into it. This time, he managed to shakily place a foot on the nose. He stayed there for about three seconds before the force of another wave knocked him over and face first into the water.

For some reason, the pull of that wave was stronger than it should have been, keeping him submerged. Rai kicked his legs as hard as he could manage, futiley trying to come up to the surface, but that storm wave just kept him under. His breath had been knocked out by the force of his fall, so he wasn't exactly in the best shape.

_Shit_, he thought seconds before he blacked out.

- - - - - - -

Kimiko woke to the sounds of the waves crashing on the shore. Her hotel was only a short walk away from the beautiful Rio beach, so she had decided to let the ocean be her alarm clock. With a yawn and a stretch, she rose from her bed to start the day.

She walked into the small bathroom on the other side of the room. Glancing at herself in the mirror, she groaned. "I so shouldn't have spent so much time at the beach!" she whined softly. "Now my hair's all frizzy from the salt water."

Sighing, she picked up the brush that lay carelessly on the vanity. She did not want to think about the day before. That made her think of that guy. She remembered the dream from last night, of course, and she wasn't stupid. She knew that she had jumped to conclusions and beat up some guy that was quite possibly an innocent bystander in the cycle of her rage. _But why did I dream about him in the first place? And what the hell was he doing on my chest?_

Still, she felt bad for what she had done. She was capable of remorse, dammit! But would her pride let her just go back an apologize?

"Yes," she mumbled, rolling her eyes at her thoughts. Just because she'd had anger management issues all her life didn't mean that she never fized them. She would be friendless if that was the case.

Kimiko quickly showered and dressed before heading towards the beach. She had no idea where this guy lived, or his name, so she figured that it was her best shot. Lost in her thoughts, she made her way across the mostly empty street (who woke up at this hour during the summer?) and toward the ocean.

She was only a few feet away from the sandy edge of the beach when she spotted a lone figure sprawled across the sand. From the looks of it, he'd been beaten up pretty bad. _I should go and make sure the guy's okay_, Kimiko thought. She couldn't stand to see someone who was hurt and then just walk away; it had happened far too often in her own experiences.

The sun was up just enough to shed some light on the scene before her as she jogged toward the figure. Kimiko was ten yards away when she realized that it was that guy from yesterday, the guy from her dreams. She was six yards away when she noticed that he wasn't breathing.

"Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit," she chanted, her eye wide in horror at his mangled-looking body. Noting the board some yards away, she guessed that he must have taken a spill while surfing. His legs were spread wide apart, one of them bending outwards at the knee. The left side of his face was buried in the sand, blocking his air.

Kimiko knew that she couldn't just leave someone like this, no matter how mixed her feelings about him were. Gingerly, she lifted his head and turned it downwards, lightly pounding on his back to get at least some of the sand out of his mouth. Grasping his wrist tightly, she felt for a pulse. His skin was cold, but he had a pulse. Faint, but there all the same.

CPR - she knew it was what he needed right now, but she had never taken a class before. What if she did it wrong and wound up killing him? But of course, she had to try, or else he was dead for sure.

His mouth was already slighty open. Taking a deep breath of her own, Kimiko pinched his nose closed and leaned down, covering his mouth with her own. And she breathed.

- - - - - - -

Rai immediately knew three things. One, his throat hurt like hell, but that was to be expected when he had just inhaled a gallon or so of sea water. Two, he wasn't in the water anymore; he was on semi-dry land, the beach if the sand indicated anything. Three, someone was holding his nose closed so tight he'd get a bruise. And kissing him?

His eyes shot open as he turned over to cough out all of the water that had been inflaming his lungs. It felt like hours, but soon he felt a warm hand on his back, rubbing in circles to help ease his pain. In his confusion, he glanced to his left. _Holy crap, it's psycho chick!_

"Nyaaaa!" he cried, backing away from her in a bad imitation of the crab walk, falling to the sand on his ass after a few steps. "Wh-what are you doing here? I didn't do anything to you! L-leave me alone!"

Her eyes narrowed, but her gaze held no real fire. "I just saved your life," she said in a cold voice that held no real ice. "Why would I want to end it after all of the trouble to keep you alive?"

_Good point...wait, she...she...?_ "You...you saved my life?" He must been under longer than he thought. If nothing else, the salt water he coughed up only added to credibility of her story. Suddenly, he remembered something. She hated him. Or acted like she did. "Wait, why? Thought you couldn't stand me?"

The girl simply rolled her eyes. "I can't. But that doesn't mean I'm going to leave you to the buzzards."

"Seagulls."

"Excuse me?"

Rai sat up on his arms. "Ain't no buzzards around here, girlie. The seagulls are near deadly, though." He thought he saw a shadow of a smile flicker across her face, but as soon as it came, it became imperceptible again. Sitting up fully, he extended his arm toward her. "Thanks for the save. The name's Rai."

The girl cocked an eyebrow, apparently amused. "Rye? Like rye bread? How'd you get stuck with a name like that."

Rai frowned, drawing back his ignored hand before answering. "Okay, first off, Rai like R-A-I, not R-Y-E. Short for Raimundo."

A beat of silence came and went. "And?"

"And what?"

The girl sighed rather disgustedly as she rose to her feet, extending an arm out to help up poor Raimundo. He gladly took it as he hoisted himself up from the ground. "_And_. You said 'first off,' indicating that you had something else to say. So say it."

He raised a finger as he opened his mouth, obviously meaning to dispute her claim, before shaking his head and returning his arm to his side. "Well," he started, his eyes slightly angled toward his feet, "I'm pretty sure I was going to say something along the lines of 'who the hell are you?' You know, considering that I don't actually know who you are." Just because she had saved his life didn't mean he was going to completely forget about how she completely tossed him over her shoulder by his wrist.

For some reason, she looked confused and ready to dispute _him_. Rai's eyebrows shot up at that. Yeah, you could technically say that they "knew" each other, but only in the sense that they'd met once before. "No," she finally said, looking a little defeated. "I guess I don't know you."

- - - - - - -

What was she supposed to say to _that_?! 'Oh, yeah, actually, I've dreamt about you twice: once before I woke up to find you on my chest (you were a real jerk, by the way), and once this morning where you were less of a jerk.' Uh huh. Right.

But still, he was technically right. She didn't know him. Those dreams could be completely coincidental. Maybe. The dreams seemed kind of conflicting, but they had obviously been part of the same dream. Maybe, if he hadn't woken her up that one time, it would have just been a natural progression where he was a jerk and then he wasn't. _Wait, what?_ Now she was just confusing herself. Whatever. Either way, dreams don't for the basis for any type of relationship, not for three hundred years or so. And what she'd seen of him so far, while not exactly promising, was far from completely awful.

"So then who are you?" His voice stirred her out of her musings as she turned to him.

"Oh." _Right. My name. _"Kimiko. My name's Kimiko."

"Kimiko, huh?" He sounded bemused by something. It better not be her name; the last person who made fun of her name, before her anger management classes had started, anyway, had found themselves with two bruised ribs and a swollen eye. "Is that Japanese?"

"Yes, actually." She couldn't keep her surprise out of her voice. How did he know that?

The guy, Rai as she now knew him, seemed to hear her thoughts. "I took Japanese for awhile during grade school. That was before I realized that English had about three less alphabets." He said the last part with a bit of a smirk.

Kimiko laughed. "Actually, that's one of the reasons I decided to take English, too. Chinese looked kind of hard, mostly because I'd have to rememorize one of the alphabets that I already knew with completely different meanings. Arabic...eh, it really just looked like a line with some indentations in it." Rai chuckled a bit at that. "English was the only language with Latin letters, other than Latin, that didn't have any accents. And Latin's dead, so a fat lot of good that'll do in life."

Raimundo laughed full out at that, grabbing his stomach with one hand. "That's what I told my old man back then when he tried to make me take Latin." His face darkened slightly after he realized what he had said, looking a little sad as well. But Rai managed to cover for it as his smile from before once more made its way to his face. "Uh, so what does Kimiko mean?"

"Well, its obviously Japanese." Kimiko had seen his expression change and didn't quite know what to make of it, but for now, she didn't ask. "It means something alng the lines of 'child without equal.' My mother picked it out for me." Her last words had a wistful tone to them.

Apparently, Rai hadn't noticed. "Child without equal? Meaning that you're the best or the worst?"

"Haha, funny, Rai." Kimiko rolled her eyes as she pushed him in the shoulder a bit. "What about your name?"

"Well, my native language is Portuguese, but my name is Hispanic." He must have noticed her look as he heatedly replied, "What? I had to know for a project back in third grade. Anyway, it means 'advice, decision, protector.' "

"Interesting."

"Funny. That's what my teacher said before she asked who would listen to any of my crazy advice."

Kimiko looked up at the sky; the sun was now steadily approaching the top of the sky. "Wow, we've been here for awhile."

Rai glanced up at the sky. "Yeah, about three hours now. Judging from when I actually wiped out, anyway."

Kimiko's mouth dropped open. "How do you _know_ that?!"

"I've been surfing for years. Waterproof watches always fall off; I've had to find some way to tell time," he said with a shrug.

"Wow. What about during the night?"

"Huh?" Rai was apparently puzzled.

"At night, moron. What about when you surf at night? How do you tell time then?"

"Oh, I don't surf at night."

"Why not?"

He smirked. "Well, for one thing, I can't tell the time."

She rolled her eyes. This was a witty one. "And?"

"And?"

"Come on, we've been through this already. You said 'for one thing' which implies that you had a second thing to say. So say it."

"Oh, no, that was it, actually."

"Oh." After that bit of witty banter, the conversation seemed to die a little. An uncomfortable silence followed for a few minutes while neither one could think of anything else to say. "So, um, I've actually got to go," Kimiko finally said. "I have a friend back home that I promised to call; it can't be after eleven there, so I'd have to call now for it to be today...I hate timezones."

The corners of Rai's mouth lifted slightly. "Ah, well, I guess I can forgive you for that. So, I'll see you?"

"Eh. We'll see."

- - - - - - -

Rai watched the girl walk back across the beach. _Kimiko_. Interesting name for an...interesting girl. In the span of a little more than a day, she;d gone from hating him to saving his life to talking to him like a normal human being. _Now the question is what made her do a whole freaking 180? Something I said? Well, no, I was unconscious...maybe the fact that I was dying gained me a few sympathy points_, he thought dryly.

He kicked the sand as he gazed out to the ocean._ I still don't get why she hated me in the first place. Doesn't make any sense. What did I ever do to her? Granted, she woke up to find me lying on her boobs, but come on. I said I was sorry, dammit! And the whole thing where she fucking flipped me? What the fuck was _that_ about?_

It just didn't add up, he thought as he looked over to his board. Hmm. He'd almost died today trying to get that fucking cheater five down. Day before he'd gotten his ass handed to him. Maybe he should lay off the waves for awhile.

Nah.

In a flash, Raimundo picked up his board and started paddling out again. He didn't have a specific trick he wanted to do, like the cheater five. Instead, he just let loose. By that time, the storm clouds had subsided and the waves were slighlty less choppy, so he had the time to just do as he pleased.

Looking back toward the beach as he gained some momentum, he realized that he couldn't see that Kimiko girl anymore. Must've gone back to her hotel to call taht friend of hers. Huh. And here he'd thought she was lying. Hell, he was almost ready to say something to get out of that awkward silence.

One thing was for sure. The girl was strange.

- - - - - - -

Kimiko had called Keiko two days earlier, as soon as she'd gotten off of the plane. By this point, Keiko already knew that her friend had made it to Brazil in one piece. But hey, Raimundo didn't know that.

_Raimundo_. Funny how two different dreams can make your whole outlook on a person change. Well the circumstances did their part, too, she supposed. Waking up with some guy on your breasts after seeing him as a jerk in your dreams was bound to form a prejudice of some sort. And seeing the same guy after having him be nice in your dream nearly dead on the beach...well, she'd certainly felt bad.

Kimiko still didn't like him all that much. She didn't despise him, but she didn't like him, either.

She pulled out a book from the nightstand that she had placed there the previous day. Her journal. Anger management had dictated that she write her thoughts and feelings down every day in order to try and quell some of her temper. It worked; _some_ of her temper was, indeed, quelled. But she didn't write about her day; Kimiko had always thought that a waste of time. No, she wrote poetry.

And so Kimiko wrote in her journal for a few more hours before heading out to lunch at 3 'o clock, just as the moon had appeared, hovering across the sky from the sun.


End file.
